After months of wrangling by Congress and the White House, the $8,000.00 First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit has finally been given the go ahead for extention. And just to make things interesting, our esteemed leaders in Washington added a twist; all homebuyers who have been in their homes for at least five years can now also get a $6,500.00 when they sell their homes too.

Under this extension, the program will have some new guidelines also. Here is a synopsis of the new changes and requirements.

First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit

• The maximum tax credit remains $8,000 ($4,000 for married individuals filing separately), and anyone who has not owned a home within three years is considered a “First Time Home Buyer.”

Tags: legislature, mortgages, new laws, real estate

Both the Senate and House voted yesterday to extend the current higher loan limits for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA loans through December, 2010. The resolution was attached to a continuing resolution that passed late in the day and prevented the higher limits from expiring at the end of the year.

Lawmakers had temporarily raised the loan limits back in 2008 as part of the Housing and Economic Act of 2008 and then again in 2009 through both a HUD mandated guideline and the Economic Stimulus Act up to a maximum of $729,750 for high-cost areas.

To find your individual counties higher loan limits, you can read our blog post at 2009 FHA and Conforming Loan Limit Changes.

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Tags: FHA, HUD, legislature, mortgages

On Saturday, the Senate passed the long awaited housing bill (H.R. 3221-Housing and Economic Act of 2008) which supposedly will offer up to $300 billion in home loans for troubled homeowners and establish a rescue plan for the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSE’s) - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It is expected to be sent to the President immediately and his aides have indicated he will sign it into law even though it’s costs are far above what where originally anticipated.

The legislation is the centerpiece of Washington’s efforts to address the nation’s housing crisis and is one of the most far-reaching housing bills in the last 40 years. The bill has two major objectives, one is to offer affordable (government backed) mortgages to homeowners at risk of going into foreclosure, and the other is to support Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with a temporary rescue plan and new, tougher regulatory oversight.

Tags: FHA, legislature, new laws

For those of you not yet aware, Amendment 5 will be appearing on the November 4th ballot here in Florida. The amendment will allow voters to decide whether or not they will decrease their real estate taxes (by as much as 25%) by replacing “state required school property taxes with other state revenues.”

Once again, Lee County Property Appraiser Ken Wilkinson (Father of Save Our Homes), helped the committee that developed the new amendment and they believe its passage will “remove the unfunded mandate of required local effort from the backs of Florida taxpayers.”

Tags: Florida, legislature, taxes

HUD has announced a 30-day extension, to June 12, 2008, for the public to comment on the proposed new Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) rule. The announcement came just days before the initial comment period was set to end and on the heels of a letter HUD received signed by 149 members of Congress.

The Congressional letter referenced the extensive nature of the RESPA reform proposal and the fact that some aspects of the proposed changes had not previously been the subject of public comment. In addition, the letter stated that further analysis was needed on the proposed rule’s interaction with state and federal laws and regulations including the Federal Reserve Board’s recent proposal to amend its Truth in Lending Act regulations.

Tags: HUD, legislature, mortgages, RESPA

When the 2008 Florida Legislature adjourned on Friday night, Realtors counted numerous law changes that will benefit property owners, renters and the Florida real estate market in general. All the bills will still need to be approved by Governor Crist, but here is a synopsis of the real estate related highlights:

Tags: legislature, new laws